Beyond the Sea
by FantomoDrako
Summary: AU Al, while walking along the beach, finds something he's sure Winry will call him a liar for. Will his wish be granted as he's swept away into adventure? Rated T for later; NOT YAOI!
1. Seascape of Sadness and Solace

**A/N:** This fic was inspired by **Feri-san** (creator of Danek - 'Mer-Danny') and **agent000** (author of **The Call of Atlantis** - the first, and only, Mer-Ed fic I've seen. Also known on deviantART as **Reincarnated-Al**.) I thank both of them for being so awesome!

This is an AU! This fic was _inspired_ _by_ and is in no way plagiarising **Feri-san** or **agent000**. I have made it completely different to The Call of Atlantis and Feri-san's Mer-Danny fic Oceano Profunda (which she took down after a while, much to my continued dismay ).

This is the first proper FMA fic I've posted on here and I haven't watched it or read the manga for ages, so my memory is a little rusty. Constructive criticism is appreciated - helpful feedback is always great.

This story has no beta, so if anyone would like to offer... Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

_Edit: 6th Jan 2014 - Updated translations_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own FMA! (I wish, but...don't we all?)

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Chapter One: Seascape of Sadness and Solace**

A single set of little footsteps trailed up the length of the beach; the only thing that marred the otherwise smooth stretch of sand. The beach was the only thing that separated the tiny fishing village of Risembool from the vast expanse of the ocean. The tide, which was steadily coming in, would soon wash away the footsteps, erasing all traces that someone had been there. Except that the person who had left the footsteps had not actually left the beach.

A young boy of nine years sat at the edge of a rock pool. His amber-grey eyes stared into the clear water, his reflection showing him the sadness he held within. He shook his head, sending short locks of sandy-blond hair swinging, while telling himself not to cry.

Alphonse Elric wanted to be strong, for himself and especially for his mother. His mother, Trisha Elric, was a beloved citizen of Risembool. Everyone in the village knew her chestnut brown hair, green eyes and soft smile. Most of all, they knew her open, caring personality. She was a devoted mother, and now Al was determined to be a devoted son.

Trisha was bedridden with an illness that the doctor said she had must have had for many years. Long ago, a year before Alphonse was born, Trisha had been pregnant. Unfortunately the expectant mother had fallen sick and the disease had reached her unborn baby. The baby had died within the womb, the disease proving too much for its undeveloped immune system to fight off.

Trisha had been heartbroken but her husband, instead of staying with his wife, had simply left the village after Alphonse was born a year later and had not been heard of since. Al never knew his father, though all the villagers, minus his mother and their neighbours the Rockbells, spoke badly of him.

Trisha had recovered before becoming pregnant with her second child, but it seemed the illness had finally caught up.

'_Would Mother be happier and get better if I had my brother or sister?'_ Al wondered, dispassionately watching a tiny crab scuttle under a jutting ridge of rock at the bottom of the pool. _'I've always wanted a brother.'_

"Aj!"

Al's head shot up at the sudden sound of a voice. It had sounded a bit like someone had called him, but the voice hadn't sounded familiar.

"Stulta roko!" the voice said, sounding angry. "'Iras preter la loko kie la submara nuna kreas fumo ekrano', li diras. Jes, vere granda direktoj jerk! Kiel mi reiros?" it continued, rising in volume until the voice was almost yelling.

Though he could not understand a thing the voice had said, Al was very curious to see who it was. He quickly stood up and, being as quiet and careful as he could, made his way over to where the voice was coming from.

There was a natural spur of rock almost twice Al's height that reached across the width of the beach all the way to the water, continuing on for three or four feet. Al would have to climb it if he didn't want to get wet. The young boy decided to climb. His mother never liked it when he came home in wet, salty clothes.

Once his shoulders cleared the top Al looked down the other side of the rock spur he was half lying upon. His eyes were instantly drawn to a bright splash of colour among the dull shades of the beach and ocean.

A young boy, who looked to be around Al's age, was propping himself up on a rock by his elbows; his lower half submerged in water and hidden from sight by the rock he was leaning on. His chest was bare, but it didn't seem to bother the boy. He had golden-blond hair that reached a couple of inches past his shoulders and hung around his face like a curtain. He seemed to be staring at his hand, turning it this way and that until Al spotted a thick line of bright red that ran across the palm of the boy's hand.

The blood was streaming down the boy's wrist in a thin river, and he dunked his forearm underwater to wash the blood off, releasing a hiss of pain that Al barely heard as the salt stung the open wound. His mother had told him not to talk to strangers, but this boy was hurt and Al didn't want to just walk away.

"Excuse me, are you okay?" Al called, swinging his legs up and standing atop the rock.

The boy gasped and jerked his head up so sharply it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash. His eyes, a rich, molten gold, widened in surprise. His mouth hung slackly open and he froze, staring at Alphonse.

"Are you alright?" Al asked, trying again for an answer. "Is your hand hurt?"

The golden-eyed boy continued to stare, but he closed his mouth and lowered his ears.

Al's eyes caught the tiny movement, and his own mouth fell open in astonishment. Instead of normal ears, the boy had fin-like protrusions that jutted out from both sides of his head. The fins, as Al knew no better word to describe them, were around ten to fifteen centimetres long. Al loved animals, especially cats, and knew that they usually felt frightened or threatened when they lowered their ears. With this in mind, Al slowly climbed down the rock, pausing every time the strange boy moved.

Al cautiously began walking towards the boy, whispering assurances the same as he would with any scared animal he tried to approach. He was about eight feet away when the boy hissed out the word, "Stop!"

Al instantly froze.

"Ne veni ajna plu!"

Alphonse, having heard the boy clearly say the word 'stop', had been hoping that the boy did speak his language after all. That hope had been dashed, but Al was determined to communicate somehow. He held both hands out in front of his chest, palms facing up to show that he was unarmed. He took a small step forward, watching the boy's reaction carefully.

The boy opened his mouth and gave a warning hiss, showing off long, sharp, fang-like canine teeth, in a manner eerily reminiscent of a cat. He got off his elbow and slapped both palms onto the rock, disregarding his wound, leaving both elbows to jut out either side of his body. There was a line of black that ran up most of the length of his forearms. The black was surrounded by a bright red stripy sort of pattern that was in turn surrounded by bright orange. The splash of colour on the otherwise unmarred, lightly tanned skin reached from just past his elbows to just beyond his wrists in a long oval shape.

As Al took another small step forward, he hissed louder and part of his forearms seemed to split apart. The black lines lifted to form four sharp spines that were half black, half red; the longest being a foot in length, connected with membranes that reached from both of the boy's wrists to his elbows. The membranes were just as colourful as the skin around them; the parts touching the arm were the same bright orange as on his skin. The orange lasted a third of the way up the membranes before tuning into a vivid yellow-gold, similar to his eyes, with that fading into white for the last third. With both fins stretched out on display, it made the strange boy look larger and more intimidating.

Al came to a halt and stared, opening and closing his mouth several times in an attempt to find something to say. With arms, ears and teeth like that, the boy couldn't possibly be human. But if he wasn't human, then what was he? Al was always a polite boy and decided to introduce himself.

"Hello, my name is Alphonse," he said softly, gesturing to himself. "What's yours?" he asked, slowly gesturing at the strange boy.

The golden-eyed boy didn't move except for flicking his ears up briefly before lowering them once more. Since Al was sure the boy couldn't understand him, he placed a hand on his chest and slowly repeated his name before extending his hand to the boy. He did this a couple of times and waited for a response.

The boy seemed to relax by a margin and his armfins cautiously laid flat. He stared at Al, regarding him with curiosity, and said, "Alphonse."

Al smiled widely and nodded, waiting for the boy to continue.

"Alphonse," the boy repeated, pointing at the young human. After Al nodded again, the boy pointed to himself and said, "Edward."

Al beamed at this breakthrough. "Nice to meet you, Edward."

Edward smiled back, finding that his fear had all but vanished. All his life he had been told horrible stories about creatures named humans; vicious monsters that walked upon land with two legs and killed many sea creatures without remorse. Despite having only just met Alphonse, Edward knew he wasn't like that. Alphonse didn't match up with the image of humans in his mind the stories had created. Were the stories wrong, told to the young to make them behave?

"Edward, is your hand okay?" Al asked, going back to the reason he had spoken to the strange boy in the first place. Al pointed at Ed's left hand to make sure his meaning got across.

A trickle of blood had painted the rock around Ed's hand crimson. Ed lifted it and dunked it underwater again, rinsing out the dirt from the rock. When he deemed the wound clean, Ed lifted it free and turned it so that his palm faced Al.

Al stared at the cut for a moment. "Do you want a bandage?" he asked, saying the last word extra slowly while miming wrapping a bandage around his own hand.

Ed was very smart for his age and caught on quickly to what Al was saying. "Vindi?"

Where Ed came from, any type of material such as bandages were made with a special type of seaweed that could be sliced into paper-thin strands and woven into whatever shape was needed or desired. It was not exactly a fast process, and Ed did not possess the tools, the seaweed or the knowledge. If Al was indeed hinting at what Ed thought he was, it would save him having to travel all the way back with an open wound.

He nodded at Al, hoping he wasn't making a mistake. "Jes bonvolu," he said, belatedly remembering his manners.

Still smiling, Al nodded back. "Stay here. Uh…stop?" he tried, remembering that Edward had used that word.

"Stop?" Ed parroted.

"Right, stop. Don't move, okay?" Al said, pointing at the rock that Ed was leaning on again and using the universal gesture for 'stop' with his other hand.

"Ne movas, korekta? Konsentite, sed rapidu," Ed replied, nodding his understanding.

Al bobbed his head and ran back, scrambling quickly over the rock and racing off to his house as fast as his legs could carry him. As he ran all the way back up the beach, the sand gave way to scrub before it was replaced by lush green countryside. Risembool was a tiny village, but it was still a fair distance from Al's house to the beach. By the time he arrived at his front door, Al was panting heavily.

He took a minute to catch his breath and pushed the door open, slipping through quietly so he wouldn't disturb his mother. The house was a fairly large two-storey building, though parts of it were sparsely decorated. There had once been three people to occupy the large house, but now there was only two and much of the space was unused.

The lower floor was well lit. The doctor had rounded up a couple of villagers to move an unused bed from the top floor down the stairs into the main room. Trisha would not have to walk up and down the stairs this way. Alphonse had decided to move to the lower floor with his mother, though his bed remained upstairs. Al had taken the couch, which was now covered in pillows and blankets, across the room from the bed.

Walking softly on the wooden floor, Al crept past the kitchen table and stopped in front of a cupboard. Inside was a first aid kit and Al took it, shutting the cupboard and creeping out of the kitchen. He poked his head into the lounge room and saw his mother fast asleep. He tip-toed out of his house and pulled the door shut with a muffled click.

Giving the house one last glance, Al started running back toward the beach with the first aid kit tucked securely under one arm.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I actually have a plot all planned out for this – which is really rare for me. It's written on several sticky-notes in tiny, cramped writing on both sides. I know - I'm scared too.

I have a pic of Mer-Ed (when he's older though...) and you can see it in case you have trouble following my descriptions, though a friend assured me they were easy to follow... Here's the link; just remove the brackets: http(:/) .com(/)gallery(/)?offset=24#/d2r01jj

Before you ask, Edward is speaking Esperanto. _I do not speak Esperanto._ I enlisted the aid of an English-Esperanto dictionary, so forgive me if something is wrong. The words themselves are all correct.

**For those who want to know, here are the translations:**

Aj! - _ow/ouch!_

Stulta roko! - _Stupid rock!_

'Iras preter la loko kie la submara nuna kreas fumo ekrano', li diras. Jes, vere granda direktoj jerk! Kiel mi reiros? - _'__Go __beyond the __place where __the underwater __current __creates a __smoke__screen__', __he __says__. __Yes__, __really __great __directions __jerk__! __How do I __get back__?_

Ne veni ajna plu! - _Don't come any further!_

Vindi? - _Bandage?_

Jes bonvolu - _Yes please_

Ne movas, korekta? Konsentite, sed rapidu - _Do not move__, __right__? __Okay__, __but __be quick_

Well, let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is appreciated. If there's something you think I can improve on then please let me know. I always aim to improve.

~FantomoDrako


	2. All That Glitters Isn't Gold

**A/N:** I had chapter one finished for months; over a year actually. I had about two pages of this chapter written out and got stuck ages ago. Funny, I finish it off in half a day or so of inspiration... I kept it for a while though, until I had part of the third chapter written out so I could try and keep on top of this story.

Again, this is not beta'd. If someone feels up to the task just say so in a review or send me a PM. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

**To anonymous reviewer S** – I'm not a fan of yaoi either. There will be no yaoi in this; I've yet to decide if there will be any pairings at all, though I'm leaning more towards none at this point. I may have one pairing, I'm still thinking about it, but it won't be yaoi or yuri. I would have replied to you personally but you didn't leave an email address. I added NO YAOI in the summary anyway.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own FMA, but I own my version of Mer-Ed. Please don't steal, okay? If you wanna use my version of Mer-Ed then please ask. Same with any merfolk in this.

_Edit: 6th Jan 2014 - Updated translations_

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two: All That Glitters Isn't Gold<strong>

Edward watched Alphonse leave with fascination. The way the human propelled himself forward was amazing to Ed, as there were only a few ways to move underwater and they were all similar: push the water to move. Al had not pushed the air to go forward. The whole thing seemed very strange to Ed, though he wanted to know how it was done.

He looked ruefully over his shoulder at his fish-like tail and flicked it lightly, sending droplets of water into the air. His tail was just as vibrantly coloured as his armfins and was patterned much the same way. A row of membrane-connected spikes started on his back, just beneath his ribcage, and ran down most of the length of his tail like a long dorsal fin. The membranes were one third orange, one third yellow-gold, and one third white like the ones on his arms. The top half of the spikes were black while the bottom halves were red; the red melding into a stripe-like pattern of scales that ran down his tail until the last spike, where the red branched out and encircled his tail, continuing halfway up the sides of his tailfin where the scales melded into black.

Orange scales surrounded the red pattern, blemished only by spots of black that appeared in-between the red stripes. The orange smoothly changed to yellow-gold, the same shade as on his fin membranes, before turning into white along his tail's underside. Three black bands circled the end of his tail, right before it flared out into his tailfin. The tailfin itself, shaped much like a dolphin's, employed the same colour scheme as the fin membranes.

On each side of his tail, not far down from where the skin was replaced by scales, were more fins. Each side fin started off with a half red, half black spike over a foot in length. Three weaker spikes, black in colour, were progressively smaller the closer they got to his scales. These two side fins were ribbed with membranes the same colours as the others.

Ed also possessed a fin on each shoulder blade that looked exactly like the ones on his sides. They were currently lying flat, like his armfins. Ed's fin-like ears were the same colours; orange, yellow-gold and white; the main spike half red, half black.

Holding his injured hand up to his face, Ed sighed. He was thankful that he hadn't torn the pale, skin-coloured membranes that ran between his fingers. Moodily, he began scratching the rock with one of the small black claws on the tips of his digits. Thirty seconds later, Ed gave a start as he realised that he had carved a basic little transmutation circle into the rock.

'_I wonder if they have alchemy here on land…'_ he thought. Ed used his claws to scratch out the circle. Bored with waiting, he let his gaze roam across the stretch of beach on his side of the rock spur. An image of Al jogging to the rock and climbing over it entered Ed's head. He flicked his tail again.

He knew that sea turtles could move on land when they had to lay their eggs, but he seriously doubted that he would be able to move. His tail muscles were quite powerful, but all that strength would not help him much now.

A strange current was responsible for Ed ending up on the beach. He had gotten lost and tried to swim through a strong current that flowed like a river. His strength had proved no match for the current, and it had swept him close to the surface. While the current had Ed in its clutches, he had vainly tried to grab hold of a nearby reef so that he could pull himself out. His passing grab had only resulted in the sharp coral tearing off his skin and slicing into his hand.

All merfolk knew that they had to get any injury gained from coral seen to as quickly as possible. If left untreated, the lesion usually became infected and never healed properly. Parents constantly told their children to be careful around coral, and to get any coral-caused injury treated as soon as they could or they would end up like the foolish merman who thought he was too tough to need treatment and lost most of the movement in the end of his tail.

'_The surface world looks so different,'_ Ed pondered while staring up at the sky.

If you looked directly up from where Ed lived, you could only see lighter coloured water. If you swam up far enough, you could see a tiny glint of light shining. Now that Ed was on the surface, he cast his eyes about for the tiny glint. Once his pupils found the sun, Ed hastily screwed his eyes shut and muttered a soft curse under his breath.

That tiny glint of light was a whole lot bigger and brighter on the surface.

'_It's a shame,'_ Ed suddenly thought, _'that humans don't seem to speak the same language. How much easier things would be!'_

"I wonder what's taking him so long. I hope he hasn't gone to get a fisher or something…" Ed said aloud. He involuntarily shivered and tried to push the negative thoughts out of his head.

Alphonse appeared over the rock spur not long after Ed had resorted to tapping his claws idly to an old merfolk tune. The young human was breathing hard, but he tiredly jogged up to Ed and set down a box on the rock that Ed was still leaning upon. The box was white with a red cross painted on the lid and Ed studied it but made no move to touch it.

Once Al had caught his breath, he opened the box and took out a small bottle of disinfectant. To Ed, the chemical resembled polluted water and he pulled back a bit from the rock with a small hiss and a splash from behind. Startled, Al fumbled with the bottle but managed to keep a hold of it. Al's eyes suddenly became fixed on a point just to the left of Ed's head, where Ed's tailfin was out of the water and in full view.

"Wha… What is that? What…are you?" Al breathed out when he located his vocal chords.

"Huh?" Ed replied, following Al's line of sight. When he realised that the human was staring at his tailfin, Ed gave it a small jerk, flicking droplets of water into Al's face with a laugh.

Al weakly chuckled back. "Wow…a real mermaid…!"

"Knabo!" Ed said loudly.

"What?"

"Knabo," Ed repeated, frowning at Al. The human still looked baffled. "MerBOY," he said, placing a great emphasis on 'boy'. All merfolk knew the names that humans called them; 'mermaid' always being the first. 'Maid' was a human word for female, so he had taken offence and corrected Alphonse.

Al looked embarrassed and apologetic. "I'm sorry, Edward. Everybody always says mermaids, but of course they can't all be girls, right?"

Ed held up three fingers with his right hand. "Mermaid," he said, putting one finger down, "mermen," down went another finger, "merboy," he finished, putting down the last.

"Got it," Al said while nodding.

Ed looked pleased at that and flicked water at Al again.

Al laughed, but motioned for Ed to stop. He had climbed the rock instead of wading around it to keep his clothes dry, but his efforts would be wasted if Ed continued. The two lapsed into a comfortable silence. The ocean continued to sing its own song, filling the silence on the beach with the gentle lap of waves ghosting over the shore as the tide slowly began edging further up the sand.

Al opened the small bottle and covered the hole with a cotton ball, tilting it up so the swab would soak up some disinfectant. He put the bottle down and held out his free hand, waiting for Ed to present his injury. Ed did so, if reluctantly, and Al wiped the swab across the cut.

"Aj!" Ed exclaimed. He bared his teeth once more and hissed, trying in vain to pull his hand out of Al's surprisingly strong grip.

"Sorry!" Al said quickly, ducking his head in apology.

Ed narrowed his eyes but stopped trying to pull away. He let Al continue, gritting his sharp teeth as Al thoroughly disinfected the gash. When the young human deemed the wound clean he pulled a roll of cloth along with a soft square of gauze out of the first aid box. Al unwound the bandage a little and gently began winding it around Ed's hand, placing the gauze over the cut and letting the cloth hold it in place.

Al grabbed a pair of scissors from the box with one hand and neatly snipped the bandage. He swapped the scissors for a small clip to hold the bandage in place. Al then sat back to admire his work with a pleased smile on his face.

Ed held his hand up to his eyes and looked it over. The bandage was wound firmly, though not too tight, was fairly comfortable and looked rather neat. Ed moved his wrist, happy when the cloth didn't impair his mobility.

"Dankon, Alphonse," Ed said with a grateful grin.

"You're welcome, Edward," Al replied, taking a guess at what the merboy said.

An awkward silence sprung up between the two boys. Al busied himself by packing everything back into the first aid box and clicking it shut while Ed studied his wrapped hand and flexed his fingers. Ed glanced up after half a minute passed.

"Do...nun kio?" the merboy asked. He shifted his tail, slapping his tailfin lightly on top of the water a few times.

Al stared back at Ed somewhat sadly. "I wish I could understand you," he said wistfully.

Ed's gaze moved from Al to the open water. "Mi devas iri nun," Ed said awkwardly, his gaze flicking back and forth.

"What?"

"Mi" – Ed pointed to himself – "devas...iri...nun," he said slowly, pointing out to sea.

"Y-you're leaving?" Al stuttered. His eyes shone with a sudden anxiousness that confused Edward.

The merboy shrugged, using Al's tone to guess what had been said. "Mi bezonas reiri," he said with a hint of reluctance.

Al suddenly got to his feet and started wringing his hands together. He kept darting looks between Ed and the vast expanse of water before him. "But..."

"Mi planas veni dorso, vi scias," Ed said casually, grinning as he flicked some water from his tailfin at Al. "Mi ŝuldas al vi kaj Mi ne forgesos gxin."

The gulls wheeled and called as the tide slowly crept up the shore, coming inexorably closer to the two boys. The gentle lapping of the waves was the perfect music to stave off complete silence. The tide had risen enough to almost submerge the rock Ed was leaning on and the merboy knew he couldn't wait any longer.

Ed ran his bandaged hand over his other forearm, wincing ever so slightly as a bright dot of red appeared at his fingertips. For a moment Al feared that Ed had hurt himself, but the merboy simply held out his wrapped hand.

Al stepped forward hesitantly and Ed wiped his fingers across Al's palm, careful not to scratch the human with his sharp black claws. As Ed pulled his hand away, Al looked at his palm. A single scale, a brilliant fiery red hue, sparkled in the light and reflected the sun's rays like a glittering gem.

"Oh, wow... Thank you..." Al said softly, entranced by the gift.

"Adiaŭ, Alphonse!" Ed said, giving a short wave with his cloth-covered hand as he used his tail and other hand to manoeuvre away from the shore.

Ed began swimming backwards with powerful thrusts of his tail the moment he was able to float without his tailfin touching the bottom. He opened his side and arm fins for extra power along with the webbing between his fingers.

"Bye, Edward!" Al called out, waving one arm in reply. The urge to cry out for Ed to wait was overwhelming, but Al knew that Ed would keep going regardless. Would he ever see the strange merboy again? Ed dived under the water and out of sight. Al headed back to his house, sniffling as he tried to hold back tears.

As Edward submerged into his watery world he glanced up at the rippling surface and the distorted waves of light that filtered down, gradually darkening the deeper he went. This was what he knew, what he understood. He hadn't actually seen any land beyond the beach or any living thing up there besides the gulls and the lone human boy, so he didn't really have any idea what the surface world was like.

Were all humans like Alphonse or did they only become cruel as they grew older? Was it something inherent in their species? Did they learn it from their parents? Or were all the 'beware the humans... for they eat whatever fish they catch, including merfolk' stories just a bunch of old fishy-tales?

Edward shook his head and scanned around for a familiar landmark. It would not do to accidentally get caught up in that current again and swept back to the beach to wait for the tide once more. He spotted a rock formation that he seemed to have a vague recollection of and adjusted his path accordingly.

The ten-year-old merboy had no idea why he had given Al one of his scales. He stared thoughtfully at the forearm he had plucked it from. Yes, he would come back someday. He had no idea when, but he would make it back here when he could to see his...friend?

Ed gave a cheerful, fanged grin as he started the long swim home.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Well, what do you think? I find flames a pointless waste of time, but constructive criticism is appreciated. I always use feedback to better my work.

Kudos to anyone who can find the old Doctor Who reference! (**DoctorAsh**, if you don't find it I will curse you with my awesome voodoo powers!)

**Esperanto translations:**

Knabo! - _Boy!_

Aj! - _ow/ouch!_

Dankon, Alphonse - _Thank you/thanks, Alphonse_

Do...nun kio? - _So...now what?_

Mi devas iri nun - _I have to go now_

Mi – devas...iri...nun - _I – have...to...go_

Mi bezonas reiri - _I need to go back_

Mi planas veni dorso, vi scias - _I plan to come back, you know_

Mi ŝuldas al vi kaj Mi ne forgesos gxin - _I owe you and I will not forget it_

Adiaŭ, Alphonse! - _Good-bye, Alphonse!_

I have a pic of Mer-Ed (when he's older though...) and you can see it in case you have trouble following my descriptions, though a friend assured me they were easy to follow... Here's the link; just remove the brackets: http(:/) .com(/)gallery(/)?offset=24#/d2r01jj

As always, please review and share your thought on this story!

~Fantomo


	3. Down Where it's Wetter

**A/N:** Hello all! (Those few of you who read this at least!) I can't believe how fast I finished writing this. Once I got my inspiration back halfway through chapter two I've just been unstoppable with this. I hope it lasts a while!

I have a pic of Mer-Ed (when he's older though...) and you can see it in case you have trouble following my descriptions, though a friend assured me they were easy to follow... Here's the link; just remove the brackets: http(:/)/fantomodrako(.)deviantART(.)com(/)gallery(/)?offset=24#/d2r01jj

**To anon reviewer S** – That's okay, I don't blame you for keeping your email a secret. I used to do it before I got an account. Why was he there? Yes, he got bad directions. Let's just say he was running (swimming?) an errand. Why is a secret! ;) (Well, not really...you'll probably find out why sooner or later.) This isn't really based on any specific FMA-verse. I own the first anime, two discs of Brotherhood (one of which I haven't watched yet) and have read up to chapter 106 of the manga. There won't be anything in here that's really specific to one or the other, so don't worry about that.

This still isn't beta'd, so the offer is out there if anyone wants to... Although the fact that you could find no mistakes was heartening, **S**. :3 I'm glad you're enjoying it and I hope you like this chapter just as much!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own FMA, but I own my version of Mer-Ed. Please don't steal, okay? If you wanna use my version of Mer-Ed then please ask. Same with any merfolk in this, original or otherwise.

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three: Down Where it's Wetter<strong>

Tall spires of carved rock, festooned with luminous coral and lichen, decorated the city at the ocean floor, giving light to a place the sun did not reach. To Edward, the glow paled in comparison to the blazing orb he had seen in the sky above the surface. The splendour would never be the same to him anymore and he found himself already missing the lighter water and the gentle breeze of fresh air ruffling his blond bangs.

He had only been back for a couple of minutes.

Ed sighed heavily, absently scratched at his bandage and slowly swam for the healer's dwelling. While he truly appreciated Al's efforts and the bandage was doing a fine job, the seaweed bandages all merfolk used made injuries heal quicker than normal. Ed wasn't quite sure how it worked, though the seaweed's accelerated healing power was only effective with merfolk. He needed to get the cut seen to anyway as he had torn it on coral.

Ed laid the fins on his arms, shoulders and sides flat. He had no need of them anymore and they would only get in the way inside the healer's place. He lightly pulled on a woven seaweed rope that hung down from a small hole in the front wall near the doorway. A light tinkling reached his ears, which Edward knew was made by a chime of coloured crystals attached to the end of the rope. The door itself was a hanging screen of seaweed and fronds, just thick enough that you couldn't see inside.

"Coming!" a female voice said brightly. A few moments later the screen was pulled aside to reveal a mermaid of around thirty years.

She had short, boyish, light brown hair that stuck out at odd angles and fell forward over her blue eyes. Her tail was pastel green with one light blue stripe that ran the whole length down both sides; her fin membranes were the same shade of blue. Her fin spines were half pastel green, half forest green and she wore a tube top of the same forest green shade.

"Oh, hello Edward," she said cheerfully with a smile. "What brings you here?"

"Hi Millie. This brings me here," he said sheepishly, giving her a small wave with his bandaged left hand.

Millie peered suspiciously at the white cloth and held the screen open, gesturing for Ed to go inside. He did so quickly, suddenly anxious about what she would say and ask. He had no desire to reveal the fact that he had been at the surface – especially near land. By doing so, he had broken the merfolk's golden rule.

He sat down on a specially carved shelf of rock reserved for Millie's patients and tried very hard not to look guilty. He must have succeeded, at least partially, for she didn't look angry or reproachful as she grabbed a glass bottle from her carved stone cupboard and swam over to him.

Millie carefully took out the cork stopper and held her hand over the top of the bottle. She pulled her hand across it and immediately balled it into a fist and stuck the cork back in. She put the bottle down and held out her hand.

"You need to uncover your hand," Millie said with a meaningful nod at the bandage.

"Oh, right, sorry," Edward said, quickly unwrapping Al's handiwork. He held the bandage in his other hand, not willing to let it go for a reason he didn't understand.

Millie gently took his hand in her own free one and examined it closely. "This wound is jagged and slightly swollen. Did you cut this on a rock or coral?" she asked, her voice sounding professional but concerned.

"Coral," Edward admitted. "I cleaned it shortly after so it shouldn't be too bad...right?" His golden eyes flicked upwards to meet hers.

"How long has it been since you were injured?"

Ed frowned, wondering exactly how much he could tell her without giving anything away. "A few hours I guess. I accidentally ran into a current I didn't know was there. The guy I asked directions from didn't warn me of it either," he said somewhat sourly. "I made my way back as soon as I could."

Millie clucked her tongue. "And how many hours is a few to you, young Edward?"

"I don't know...a few? Less than ten," he said quickly, quailing a little under her reprimanding gaze.

"Hmm..."

To Ed, Millie didn't look angry, but didn't she look happy either. She wiped her clenched hand over his outstretched one, smearing the contents over the cut. It stung badly, making Ed hiss. It felt like Al was disinfecting the gash again, though using something three times as strong.

She gently forced his fingers to curl over the wound, keeping the salve from dissipating into the water completely. With one deft movement she grabbed a seaweed bandage from a nearby shelf and neatly covered his hand, tying it off with enough care that Ed hardly felt it.

Millie suddenly smiled at him. "There. I want you to come and see me after you get a good night's sleep. But if your hand starts hurting at all, I want you to come and see me straight away, no matter what time it is. Do you understand?"

Ed nodded. "Thanks," he said gratefully.

"You're free to go. Stay out of trouble now, you hear me?" Millie said with a stern glare that held no real fire. She swam over to the door and held the screen open for him.

"Yes ma'am!" Ed said with a grin, giving her a merfolk salute. His left hand was just underneath his chin and the middle finger was curled into his palm, though his other fingers were straight, resting under his right cheek. His thumb was pointing at his left cheek and the four spines along his arm were unfolded, the fin on complete display over his chest.

Millie's smile widened and she playfully shooed him out, watching until his tailfin whipped out of sight.

Once he could no longer see the healer's place, Ed slowed down as much as he could without actually stopping. It was incredibly hard to swim so slowly but Ed was dreading going home. He could see his mother yelling herself hoarse; hear her voice deafening his sensitive ears. He would be lucky if she simply grounded him and set him to work on a bunch of chores. Ed knew that he would never get off so lightly. She would wallop him and Ed could only hope that she didn't break anything in her anger. She usually didn't, but the bruises...

Edward wondered, not for the first time, what his real parents were like. Ed was an orphan, found drifting along, caught in a gentle current that wound its way near and around the large underwater city. He hadn't even been a year old – barely six months – when a woman named Izumi Curtis had found him drifting along, crying quietly while the current dragged him onwards in its grip.

She had easily plucked his tiny body from the sluggish current. Izumi had lost her own child after birth a few years before and decided to take this second chance fate had granted her. She had raised Edward as if he were her own, her husband just as delighted and mystified by his appearance as she was.

Last year, however, Edward had asked her a question that had been plaguing him for a while. All the other children had inherited their parent's colours, but Ed, whose colours were unusually vivid, looked nothing like the mainly dull colours of either Curtis. Izumi had then told him the truth, at least as far as her knowledge went. No one had any idea of Ed's past before he was found or who his parents might be.

Despite the revelation, Ed still loved Izumi and her husband like they were his real parents. He had never known anything else. Izumi was also his alchemy teacher, though she taught him hand-to-hand combat as well. Ed was quite adept at both and his adoptive mother was very proud.

When she hit, it hurt. A lot. No matter how well he progressed in his training, he was never able to dodge her without swimming away unscathed. While his mind was preoccupied, his body had still been moving toward his house. He was jerked abruptly out of his thoughts when he realised he was floating in front of his door.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath, balling the bandage up at tight as he could inside his fist to hide it.

"EDWARD CURTIS!" a female voice thundered from inside.

Ed flinched, bracing himself as he ducked to one side. He wasn't quick enough. A fist, moving impossibly fast, seemed to materialize in front of Ed's face. He only had enough time to close his eyes before the fist connected with his right cheek, the strength of the punch hurling him backwards almost ten feet. He flailed to a stop, sending bubbles everywhere, and held a hand to his now throbbing cheek, discretely checking if anything was broken.

Izumi swam up to the cringing merboy and loomed over him. He couldn't meet her stern glare and the grim line her mouth had become, choosing instead to observe the rocky floor below his tailfin.

"And just where have you been?" she asked in a low, dangerous tone.

"I...got lost," Ed mumbled, just managing to make it sound like a statement and not a question.

"Lost," she parroted, sounding unconvinced.

"Yeah, I even stopped to ask for directions and everything! But the guy I asked never warned me about the stupid current and it...took me a while...to break free of it," Ed said loudly, becoming a little hesitant near the end of his explanation. He hoped his mother would interpret his hesitance as reluctance to admit that he wasn't strong enough to break free of the current right away.

Izumi hummed under her breath. "Alright, but tell me when you're going next time. You got that, brat?"

"Got it," Ed said. She moved out of his way and he swam to his room as swiftly as he dared without seeming rude. Sig, Edward's adoptive father, wasn't home. The young merboy figured Sig must be at work and wished he wasn't. His dad was often a buffer between his mother's temper and Ed's body.

He let the screen of fronds that served as his door fall into place behind him. He perched lightly on the side of his bed. Edward couldn't believe his luck – his mother hadn't noticed the bandage still clutched in his right hand. If she had, she had given no indication. Ed gazed at it for several seconds before gently stuffing the slightly bloody gauze and bandage into a hidden crevice at the foot of his bed.

The bed itself was nothing more than a large slab of rock covered with all manner of soft, springy plants, with a woven screen, much like his door only thicker, laying folded to use when it got cold.

With a powerful flick of his tail Ed flipped himself over and let himself float down until he was lying face down on his bed. He crossed his arms, forming a sort of pillow, and laid his head down, releasing a sigh. Ed let his mind wander back to the beach he had washed up on.

He knew the way back to the beach. The question was would he be allowed to go the same direction again? His mother had said to tell her if he was going somewhere. Of course, whether or not she tried to follow him was a different matter entirely... Ed wouldn't put it past her to see if he was up to something. How far would she follow him? _Would_ she follow him? He was sure she would try at least.

'_Perhaps I should wait a while before I try to go back?'_ he pondered silently. He stared ahead at the wall, not really seeing it. _'Will Alphonse still be there when I do make it back? Will he still be the same?'_

Ed frowned at that thought. There was no way that nice, friendly little human would turn evil like the stories painted his kind. Was there?

The next day started off a lot differently than Ed was used to. The routine was the same, but the sense of normalcy seemed to drag at him. Now that he had seen another world, life underwater had lost some of its charm. Ed tried not to let it get to him.

Just after lunch the young merboy went back to see Millie. The cut was almost half healed already. She changed his bandage and told him to keep it on for two more days, just to be safe.

The rest of the day passed slowly, the boredom clawing at him until it was time for his alchemy lesson. Alchemy always cheered him up.

A few days later, having yet to successfully 'sneak' away, Ed was becoming slightly stir-crazy.

* * *

><p>Al was faring little better. He had told Winry Rockbell, his best friend, and she had laughed at him, calling him more of a girl than she was. Al had showed her the beautiful ruby-like scale Ed had given him. Winry believed he got it from a fish. She had never seen a fish with such scales, true, but what else could it be?<p>

Al had sulked for a couple days after that.

By unspoken consent, neither spoke of it anymore. Still, a week after Al had waved goodbye to Ed, he had managed to drag her down to the beach with him.

"What are we here for again?" Winry asked, slightly exasperated.

Al resisted the urge to roll his eyes and patiently told her the same false reason for being here that he had half an hour ago. "I want to get one of those big shells you can hear the ocean in for Mother."

Winry's annoyed gaze softened as she stared at Al's back. "Okay, I'll help you find the biggest one on the beach!" she said cheerfully.

Al nodded at her in thanks and the two set about combing the beach for the perfect shell. Every now and then, when he was sure Winry wasn't looking, Al glanced out at the expanse of water that stretched as far as the eye could see. His eyes scanned the horizon for a waving hand or a flash of a fin.

He turned his attention back to the sand and saw a reasonably sized shell. He picked it up, just in case they never found anything larger. Despite the fact that searching for a shell was an excuse, Alphonse really did want to get his mother one. He knew she missed strolling along the beach with him and wanted to take a piece of the beach back for her to keep until she was well enough to come here with him again.

Al knew his encounter with Ed wasn't a dream. The red scale was safely inside a wrapped up matchbox sitting in one of his pockets. He sighed, going back to his search.

SPLAT!

A wadded up piece of seaweed suddenly smacked Al in the head, just behind his ear. He whirled around to face Winry, angry and confused. The accusation died on his lips when he noticed that she was staring at him in confusion mixed with a tinge of fear. Another ball of seaweed hit its mark, smacking into the dry side of his head.

The two bewildered humans heard laughing and turned as one.

There, floating about fifty feet from shore, was Edward, another seaweed missile already in hand.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I know, I'm evil, aren't I? Cliff-hangers are fun to write! I honestly don't believe how fast I wrote this... (Wrote, not posted!) The chapters are kind of short though...maybe that's why. I usually average at least 3,000-7,000 words a chapter on most of my other stories. Do you think I should make these chapters longer? They are around 2,500-2,800 words at the moment... Hmm.

No Esperanto translations for this chapter. It's easier (for me and any readers) to just write Ed and any other merfolk speaking normally (as in English) while conversing with themselves and each other.

**PICTURES!** Just remove the brackets.

I have a pic of Millie: http(:/)/fantomodrako(.)deviantART(.)com/art(/)Millie-276996841

And another of Ed, this time as he appears now – a child: http(:/)/fantomodrako(.)deviantART(.)com/art(/)Little-Mer-Ed-276997642

I hope you liked this chapter and the glimpse into Ed's world below the surface! Let me know what you think and if there's anything I can improve upon. Honest constructive feedback is always much appreciated!


	4. The Art of Conversation

**A/N:** Yeah, this one came out a bit slower. I've been really busy with this, that and everything else. Still, one month is pretty darn good for me. This still has no beta if anyone is willing...? Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FMA or FMA:B. I do own the mer-versions of any characters though, original or not. If you want to use them, please ask and don't steal.

_Edit: 6th Jan 2014 - Updated translations_

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four: The Art of Conversation<strong>

"Edward!" Al gasped. Ed waved in reply, a grin stretching across his face. He moved no closer though, his wary gaze on the young girl. He simply floated there, watching the two humans curiously.

It took Winry a few moments to get over the shock. "But...that's...and...you..." she stuttered out. Her platinum blonde hair whipped to and fro as she stared dumbly from Al to Ed and back again. She raised a hand and pointed at Ed's head and shoulders, which was all that could be seen above the water, her whole arm shaking.

"I told you so," Al said with a wide smile, allowing a bit of smugness to colour his tone. He gestured for Ed to come closer while grabbing Winry's hand and leading her to the water's edge.

Ed dived under and Al feared that Winry had scared him off. He gave a sigh of relief when Ed's head rose back up at the shore's edge; right behind the rock the merboy's scratched out transmutation circle was on. Ed hauled himself up to lean on the rock, just like he had a week ago.

Al waded out to Ed. "Hi Edward!" he said happily, all traces of sadness completely erased by Ed's arrival.

"Saluton Alphonse," Ed cheerfully replied.

"Oh my gosh...he's really real..." Winry breathed, cautiously stepping closer until she stood slightly behind and to one side of Al.

"Oh, Edward, this is Winry," Al said slowly, gesturing to the girl.

"Winry?" Ed frowned lightly, testing the word out on his tongue. His tail rose out of the water behind him and he waved it lazily from side to side as he peered at Winry, studying her. He noticed her bright blue eyes immediately become riveted on his bright tail. "Saluton Winry," he said with a fanged grin.

"Hi..." she said faintly.

"Ĉu vi ankoraŭ havas mian skalo?" Ed asked, wrapping a hand around the spot on his forearm that he plucked the scale from.

"Skalo..." Al repeated, watching Ed. "Of course; scale! Yeah, I have it," Al said quickly. He grabbed the matchbox from his pocket, fumbling slightly in his haste, and presented it to Ed, pulling the little box open to show its contents.

"Bonega!" Ed nodded, satisfied. He mimed picking it up, staring at the young human boy meaningfully. "Tenu la skalo en via mano."

Al did so very carefully. He looked to Ed to see the merboy grin. "Like this? But why?" he asked in confusion.

Ed almost doubled over in the water trying to hold back laughter. He surfaced, grin wider than ever. "This is why!" he crowed triumphantly.

Alphonse almost fell over in shock. He was completely still, ignoring Winry tugging on his sleeve. After half a minute of struggle he finally got his mouth to work. "Is this alchemy or are you magic?"

"Oh, so you DO have alchemy on land?" Ed asked, curiosity burning bright in his golden eyes. Al nodded mutely. "No, it's not alchemy."

Winry's tugging became more urgent and Al finally turned to her. "Al...what are you saying? You're speaking the same language he is..." she trailed off, looking spooked.

"I am?" Al blinked.

"Now you're speaking English again!" she half wailed, letting his sleeve go as she stepped back. Her hands were clasped in front of her chest and her head was bowed a little as she struggled to hold in tears.

"I am?" Al repeated in confusion.

Ed slapped his outstretched palm on the water, catching both of their attention. "Give her this," he said, holding out another red scale. Pulling out scales that weren't loose stung quite a bit, but he figured it was worth it.

"Of course, I get it now!" Al chirped. He turned to Winry and offered her the scale. "Take it, it'll let you understand him," he said softly, like he was speaking to a scared animal.

Winry's hand trembled slightly as she took the tiny scale and held it tightly in her clenched fist.

"Why do you look so scared? I'm not going to eat you, you know," Ed said with a wink, baring his sharp little fangs.

Alphonse frowned lightly. "Wait, if you can do this, why didn't you when I first met you?"

Edward shrugged. "I didn't know," he replied simply. "I started doing some research when I got back home, to find some way to communicate properly." He folded his arms and tilted his head to one side, making his gold locks fall over his shoulder. "It was _not_ easy," he added with a small frown, remembering his mother's watchful eyes.

"Research? What kind of research did you have to do?" Al asked, trying to picture Ed reading a book underwater. Did they have books underwater? They couldn't have paper...could they?

"I looked into the old stories and stuff. I tried to do a bit of reading on the subject, but there isn't really anything recorded. We're not supposed to have any sort of contact with humans you see, so there isn't much information like that around in the first place," Ed explained while tapping his claws on his upper arm.

Winry stared at him. "How can you read underwater?" she asked, echoing Al's thoughts.

Ed stared back blankly and straightened his head. "How do you read on land?" he shot back, equally confused.

"Uh...with paper, what else?" she replied.

The confusion did not leave his golden eyes. "What is paper? We use either thin sheets of rock or specially coloured seaweed that's been lightened and woven with alchemy. It's okay to scratch words into the rock, but it's a bit hard to use seaweed."

"Paper is like woven seaweed I guess... It's really light and easy to write on, but the ink will run and the paper will go wavy if you get it wet," she said.

Al watched her with a tiny smile on his face. She had been so afraid a minute ago, now she was on the verge of lecturing the merboy. Girls seemed to have a knack for lecturing and reprimanding. Winry was better at it than even their school teacher, Mr. Thompson, and his face turned an ugly red when he yelled.

"I think I understand," Ed said while nodding slowly to himself. "Anyway, what are you doing on the beach? Were you waiting for me?"

Al fidgeted, shifting from foot to foot, making small ripples in the water. "Sort of... I was waiting for you, but I also came down here to find a big shell for my mother," he partially mumbled.

Ed's ears perked up. "What sort of shell?"

Al showed him the one he had picked up just before Ed hit him with seaweed. "One like this. If you put it up to your ear, you can hear the ocean inside."

"You want a large conch shell? That's easy! How big do you want it?" Ed said cheerfully, pretending to examine the membranes of skin between his fingers. He wiggled his fingers, watching as the skin membranes folded and flexed to match the movements. He was careful not to stretch his fingers too far apart as it created a sharp ache.

Alphonse pondered for a moment. He put his left arm across his chest and held his right elbow while tapping his chin with his right pointer finger. After a couple of seconds he stopped to examine his hand, much like Edward. "Is this too big?" he asked, holding his hand up in front of his face.

Ed hummed thoughtfully then held out his own hand. "Here, let me measure it against yours." As Al's hand touched his, Ed wondered how humans could live out of water. Al's hand was smaller than his, the tips of his fingers coming up to Ed's last knuckles. Ed filed the comparison away. "Okay, I'll be back in a bit."

Al and Winry watched the merboy wriggle backwards and slip under with a flick of his tail, reminding them of the whales they sometimes saw passing by who slapped their tails on the water before disappearing. Despite Ed's vivid colouring, the dark waters blocked him from view the moment the tips of his tailfin submerged.

Ed, now completely back in his element, smiled widely. Al hadn't changed a bit. He quickly propelled himself down into deeper water and scanned the sandy bottom. It didn't take him long to locate a conch shell that was empty. He measured it against his hand where Al's fingertips had reached. _'Too small.'_ He put the shell back carefully in case a nearby crab was looking for a bigger home.

He found two more a minute later, though both shells had occupants and he left them alone. Ed swam a bit further out, checking under rocks and ledges and behind clumps of seaweed. Several minutes later he held a beautiful big conch shell with a speckled and striped brown and cream pattern. The inside of the shell was tinged pink with a mother of pearl sheen. The shell was empty so Ed put it against his hand. It was a few millimetres longer than Al's hand, stopping just short of Ed's fingertips.

With a satisfied smirk Ed took his prize and swam back to shore. The ten spines along his back were rigid, cutting the water like a shark's fin when he reached shallow water. He could clearly hear Winry gasp in shock and then giggle nervously to hide her embarrassment when Al pointed out that it was only Edward. His head rose out of the water, his blond hair plastering itself to his face as he sampled the air. It was certainly different than breathing underwater.

What humans didn't mention in any merfolk tales was the fact that merfolk have two respiratory systems. They had a set of lungs, just like those of a human only a bit smaller, to use when out of water. These lungs were positioned just below the diaphragm. When underwater however, they used their main pair of lungs that filtered the oxygen from the water, located exactly where a human's lungs are. When Ed had taken his first breath of pure air it had stung his throat and secondary lungs, causing him to cough and hack for a good long minute before his body adjusted. Now he could make the transition smoothly as his body knew when to close and open which airways.

The air had a salty taste, much like the water. Ed wondered if all air was like this or if it was just because he wasn't inland. Shaking his scientific thoughts aside, he proudly presented the shell by sitting it on what was quickly becoming his rock. "How's this?" he asked, once more leaning against the rock.

"Oh wow...thanks so much Edward!" Al said, gently picking up the shell and cradling it.

"You can just call me Ed," the merboy said.

Alphonse took the cue and replied, "Just call me Al."

Ed turned his molten gaze to Winry. "And I just call you...?" he prompted. One of his earfins flicked, sending some droplets flying.

"You just call me Winry," she answered, putting her hands on her hips and standing over the merboy in a vaguely menacing way.

Ed put his hands up in surrender and chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Kinda boring though, don't you think?" He smiled blandly at her, taking pleasure in teasing the girl.

At least this human girl was different from the dainty little snobbish maids back home. They would flash their fins and giggle; batting their eyelashes outrageously whenever a guy they thought was cute swam past. They used their armfins like a human would use a fan, peering over the membrane as it covered the lower half of their faces. Ed found the whole armfin thing a waste of time as most mermaids' fin membranes were transparent, so why bother 'hiding' behind them?

"Are you calling me boring?" Winry said slowly. She leaned over him with narrowed, angry blue eyes, just waiting for him to give her a reason to hit him. Winry hit Alphonse on the rare occasions when he annoyed her too much and it always made her feel better.

Edward, having been raised by Izumi, instinctively sensed this violent streak. Still, it did not deter him from saying, "I dunno, are you?" and grinning wickedly.

Winry's small fist whistled through the air to connect solidly with the top of Ed's head. It was nowhere near Izumi's strength, but the young girl could sure hit harder than her frame suggested. He scrunched his eyes shut for a moment as his hands flew to his head and he gingerly rubbed the sore spot.

"Ow, geez! Just because you're violent, doesn't mean you're not boring," he muttered just low enough for Winry not to pick out any words. "Are all human females this aggressive?" he asked in a louder tone. The smirk left Ed's face as he was honestly curious.

"I think it's just Winry, but I don't really know any other girls, so..." Al said shyly, quickly ducking his head in an attempt to avert the girl's ire.

Winry glared at him but her fist remained by her side. "Yeah well...what are the girls like where you live then? Are they just gaggles of gigglers?" she shot at the merboy.

Ed blinked. "A _what_ of gigglers?" He had never heard that word before, though he could guess that it meant a group of some sort. Even Al looked a little confused at the expression.

"A _gaggle_," she replied while crossing her arms. "It means a group or flock of geese, though I think it suits those airheaded gossip girls really well. They flock together and make lots of unnecessary noise," she stated firmly, looking pleased as Ed said a little 'oh' of recognition. He had no idea what geese were, but she had gotten her point across.

"Yeah, you could say most of the girls are like that. They really annoy me, flashing their fins and giggling like it's a huge joke. Most of them are really vain and spend their time primping when they're not flirting. Don't tell me they're like that on land too?" he asked, his attraction for the land dimmed somewhat by the thought.

Winry shrugged. "It depends, I guess."

Al cleared his throat a little self-consciously. "So, Ed, are you staying for a while?"

"I wish I could, but..." he said with a small shake of his head. "I'll have to leave soon. My mother's been keeping an eye on me and if she found out that I snuck away..." he trailed off with a shudder. Getting punched by Izumi hurt, but Ed knew she'd be mad enough to use her tail and armfins if she discovered he'd snuck away to the _surface _to see a _human_, let alone two.

Izumi had cut him with her armfin once. Ed was lucky that merfolk rarely scarred or he'd have a large one across his right bicep. The spines on every merperson's arms were incredibly sharp and, when folded flat, part of the spines extended past the elbow. When like that, they became as deadly as any dagger, for cutting and stabbing. It was _never_ wise to sneak up on one of the merfolk. Any fights were usually fast and fatal.

Their tails were very powerfully built and if there was sufficient room, could be swung with tremendous force, enough to shatter a pane of glass.

"You're leaving again already?"

Al's voice broke into Ed's thoughts and he looked up at the young human. _'He looks like someone just told him he can't keep the fish he caught as a pet,'_ he thought, oddly touched. He was sure Al didn't see him as a pet. Right? "Yeah. Don't worry, I'll be back when I can sneak away again," he said reassuringly. He was unsure if he was trying to convince Al or himself.

"It was great meeting you. Thank you for the scale," Winry said shyly.

"No problem," Ed replied with a grin. "I gotta go. I guess I'll see you when I see you."

"Okay. Bye Ed, and thank you for the shell," Al said, copying Ed's grin.

Ed waved and started wriggling backwards. It was harder this time around as he didn't have the tide to help him.

"Oh, wait!" Winry suddenly called, stopping Ed in his tracks. She splashed out to him, pulling something from her hair as she went. She boldly fished his left hand from the water and quickly tied something around it before hastily stepping back to Al.

Ed looked at his arm curiously. She had tied a ribbon around his wrist in a double-knotted bow so that it wouldn't work loose easily. It was sky blue. Ed stared at the girl. "What's this for?"

"W-well, you gave me something...so I wanted to give you something. You know, to r-remember me by," she said quickly, stuttering a bit as the words rushed from her, as if speaking fast would lessen the embarrassment she was feeling.

"Oh, thanks," Ed said, not quite sure how to respond. He decided to leave before things became even more awkward. "Bye!" he said, disappearing under the water as soon as it was deep enough. He swam as fast as he could, staring at the ribbon all the while. It was only a shade lighter than her eyes he noted absently, smiling.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Yeah, not much happened, I know. I'm planning a bit more action for next chapter.

As for the scales and language barrier... well, it's hard translating everything and it would have been really annoying for me and all of you readers if I had kept it up for too much longer. I'm not having everything in English though; there will be Esperanto here and there.

Concerning Winry wailing about Al switching between Esperanto and English – please keep in mind that the capitol of Amestris _is_ built over _London_. They speak _English_. If you read the manga or watch Brotherhood then you'll notice that the country of Xing is like Asia. The people there speak Xinghese, which I'm counting as a mesh of Japanese and Chinese. Hence why there are no Japanese phrases or suffixes like –kun and –chan in this story.

**Esperanto translations:**

Saluton Alphonse/Winry – _Hello Alphonse/Winry_

Ĉu vi ankoraŭ havas mian skalo? - _Do you still have my scale?_

Bonega! - _Great!_

Tenu la skalo en via mano_ - Hold the scale in your hand_

Well, what do you think? Has my writing improved? (Not likely XD) Has the quality slid? (I hope not!) As always, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.


	5. Predator and Prey

**A/N:** Okay, it's a bit later than the others, but I've been really busy the past two weeks or so. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five: Predator and Prey<strong>

Just before he reached the city Ed stopped to collect a large handful of various plants for his mother. Izumi was currently experimenting in the kitchen. For the past week or so she had been adding in plants that reduced headaches, alleviated nausea, and gave your scales an extra sheen; trying to find a balance between nutrition and taste.

Ed had gotten lost the very first time she sent him to find the plants. He had asked for directions, been swept away by a current, and befriended a human. When he eventually found his way back the plants had been driven from his mind. Izumi had scolded him for returning empty-handed the next day and had given him very detailed directions before sending him off again.

For a few days after that she had watched him like an eel waiting for a fish to swim past. Ed was surprised he had gotten away at all.

With the errand for his mother now completed, Ed headed for his house. He was swimming through what could only be described as streets when a short giggle brought him up short. Before he could blink someone moved across his path. Two others, also giggling, flanked the first, blocking the street. He backed up an arm's length, instinctively giving himself more room to swing his arms or tail.

"You wouldn't hit a poor, defenceless girl, would you?" a female voice said in mock horror.

Ed rolled his eyes before frowning. In his path floated three mermaids. The one who had spoken was directly in front of him with two younger maids on either side. Ed instantly recognised them – there weren't many boys who wouldn't. Myranda, the one in the middle, was two or three years older than Ed and the other two girls, who followed her around everywhere.

Myranda was rather attractive, with dainty fins and tail and she knew it. The girl was not afraid to flash her light fuchsia fins or wave her brightly coloured tail to gain attention. Her main scale colour was a deep, vivid pink outlined with pale pink strips that faded to white on her tail's underside. Circles of dark purple, with spots of the same colour in the middle of each one on both sides of her delicate dorsal fin, ran down her tail and arms, flaring out on her tail like the eye pattern on a moth's wings. Her spines were half deep pink, half dark purple and her light brown hair, which was just short of being waist-length, hung like a silky curtain down her back. She wore a top of dark purple.

Ed thought she was pretty enough to look at, but her attitude stunk. Her parents were very well off and she had obviously been spoiled as she was snobbish, bossy and far too used to getting her own way all the time. Myranda was the leader of the trio and the other girls looked up to her as some sort of idol, though Ed couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

He recognised one of the girls as Millie's niece, Ashli. The ten year old girl was kind of plain for a maid although her light brown hair had natural streaks of blonde through it. Her colours and patterns were very similar to her aunt's, though her main colour was sky blue with pastel green fins. Her spines were half blue, half dark lime green, and her blue eyes reminded him of Winry's. A single thick band of dark lime green encircled the base of her tail while a stripe of the same colour ran down one third of both sides of her tail; her top was also this colour.

Ed had met Ashli before – her mother, Millie's sister, wished for her daughter to learn the art of healing from her aunt. Ashli could usually be found at Millie's, helping the older maid as best she could. Ed had always known her to be a shy girl, though she was quite nice if you could get her to talk, and he wondered what she was doing hanging around with the likes of Myranda.

The third he didn't personally know; Chloe was just another girl next door to him. She had light hazel eyes, dark brown hair that curled at the ends and bright green fins. The entire underside of her tail, instead of being white like most, was the same green shade as her fins. Her main colour was a deep, dark green with stripes of black in between each of the ten spines down her back. The base of her tail was black as was the tips of her spines, while two bands of black ran up the length of each spine. Her fin membranes were naturally jagged, giving the girl an unintentionally fierce look. Her top was the same deep green.

Maids, Ed noted suddenly, seemed to wear tops the same shade as their main scale colour, the hue of their fins or the colour of their defining pattern (if they were different).

Ed didn't answer her question, choosing to ask one of his own instead. "What do you want?" he ground out, his tone borderline rude.

"Why Edward, I simply noticed that you haven't been around much lately and wanted to catch up with you," Myranda said with all innocence.

Well, it would have seemed a lot more innocent to the merboy if she hadn't moved forward with a certain flick of the tail that was the mermaid equivalent to sashaying. Ed's frown deepened though he didn't move, not willing to reveal that she was starting to make him feel uncomfortable. _'It feels like a shark is circling me,'_ he thought, not taking his gaze off Myranda in case she made a sudden move.

"What's wrong, Edward? Aren't you happy to see me?" Myranda asked in an injured tone. "Aww, I feel hurt, but I know you didn't mean it," she said with a playful grin. She moved closer, swiftly shortening the distance between her and Ed while making a gesture with one hand.

Ed instantly backed up, feeling way out of his depth. His backpedalling didn't allow to get him very far when he felt a hand on his back in between his shoulder fins. He whipped his head around only to see Chloe floating there, looking a bit embarrassed as she retracted her hand and moved it to her face, twining her fingers into her hair. _'Wow, she's fast!'_

He swung his head back around and let out a tiny squeak of surprise. Myranda's face was only a couple of inches away from his own and her light fuchsia eyes instantly captured his gold ones like a snake hypnotizing its prey. She was close enough for him to easily see the generous amount of light fuchsia eye shadow she had applied. A charming smile crossed her face.

There were many young girls in the city that coveted Edward. Not only was he cute, but his bright scales and bold patterns made him very attractive to any prospective mates. Myranda wanted him all to herself. She saw him as the only boy worthy enough to be her boyfriend and, in turn, he was the only one worthy of her beauty. Myranda was used to having the best and she would never settle for anything less. She could only imagine their children! Her beautiful feminine colours mixing with his strong ones...any children they had would be the most gorgeous children in all of merdom!

"Where did you get this?" she asked, trying to keep the jealousy out of her voice as she grabbed one waving end of the ribbon still tied around his wrist. The shade of blue closely matched Ashli's and she turned her head to stare meaningfully at the younger girl.

Ashli, eyes wide once she realised what Myranda was implying, immediately shook her head and Myranda knew she wasn't lying. Ashli was far too nice to do something behind anyone's back like that.

Ed, not caught by her gaze any longer, looked down at his wrist and Winry's present. He had become so used to it that he had completely forgotten he was wearing it. Ed's brain suddenly kicked back into gear and he cursed Myranda. The girl was more like one of those deadly sirens that used magic to lure men to their deaths with their sweet voices and beauty. Girls like her were the reason the humans thought merfolk were terrible creatures.

"My mum gave it to me to tie up the plants with," he said, thinking fast. "I completely forgot about it," he added truthfully. Ed knew that the best lies were usually half-truths. "And if you don't mind, I have to go give them to her."

Myranda stared at him for a moment but she smiled. "That's so sweet of you, Edward. But surely you can stay and talk for a few more minutes?"

Ed shook his head, grateful for the excuse the plants gave him. "Sorry, but she wants them as soon as possible. Excuse me," he managed to say politely. Ed gave his tail a powerful flick, boosting himself up and over Myranda. He wasted no time in swimming as fast as he could to his house, glad to put as much distance between himself and that girl as possible.

His move could be considered rather rude but Ed didn't care. If nothing else the encounter had reminded him of the ribbon. He untied it and held it scrunched up in his free hand, wondering where to stash it when he got to his room. He didn't want to put it with the bandages...

Before long Ed had reached his house. He pushed the screen of fronds aside and called out, "I'm home!"

"I'm in the kitchen. Did you get the plants?" Izumi called back.

Ed rolled his eyes and entered the kitchen. "Yeah, I got them. Here you go." He carefully deposited his handful of plants in a box on the counter next to his mother, making sure not to crush the delicate plants when he shut the lid.

"Thanks Ed," she said, glancing over and flashing him a smile. "You were gone a while. What else did you do today?"

Ed knew the question was not as innocent as it sounded; his mother was still suspicious. "Not much. Just swam around for a while outside the city to see if I could find more of those plants. I ran into Myranda and her little followers on the way back." His face twisted into an expression of distaste.

"Myranda? That delicate little pink girl? You know, she's always been very sweet when I've seen her, so why do you look like someone's forced you to swallow a puffer fish?" Laughter danced behind Izumi's eyes as she said this, though Ed didn't notice.

"_Sweet?"_ Ed choked out in sheer disbelief. "Do you have _any_ idea what that girl is _really_ like?"

"Ah, so she's set her sights on you. You poor thing," Izumi said, her laughter bubbling up until it broke free for a few seconds.

Ed crossed his arms and glared at her, fighting to keep a blush off his face while maintaining a stony silence.

"I don't think I need to tell you to watch out for her. If she manages to sink her claws into you then she will not let you go," she said in a suddenly serious tone after her laughing fit.

Ed blinked at the sudden one-eighty her tone had taken. "No, you don't. I figured that out for myself, thanks. I swear the crazy guppy came _this close_ to molesting me!" he said, holding up his thumb and forefinger a millimetre or two apart.

Izumi raised an eyebrow. "Should I give you the talk about the seals and dolphins?"

"No, no, no!" Ed swiftly said, waving his hands back and forth in front of him as if to ward it off. "You've got your plants now, so I'll just be going..." He backed away and quickly disappeared, retreating to his room at an indoor speed just below 'accidentally banging into walls'.

He let the screen that served as his door settle back into place and took a deep breath. The water down at this depth was pure and clean with a hint of ages past in its taste. Ed expanded his armfins and used only them to slowly propel himself over to his bed. He took a quick peek in the hidden niche at the end of bed to assure himself that the bandage and gauze he got from Al were still there. They were, so he cast his gaze around his room to find a suitable hiding spot for Winry's ribbon.

Ed frowned at the lack of hiding spots his room possessed. There was a small lip of rock above his door that created a tiny shelf he used to hide sweets in... With a sudden grin Ed gave his tail a light flick, reaching the door in one smooth move. The shelf was still there.

The young merboy scoured his floor for a decent sized rock or shell to tie the ribbon around or keep on top of it as a weight. His search yielded no results and he scowled at his mother for making him clean his room so often.

He didn't want to risk alchemy as the light from the transfiguration was sure to alert his mother. With a sigh he stuffed the ribbon with the bandage and gauze while making a mental memo to find a rock or shell the next time he left the house. He'd have to wait for tomorrow unless his mother sent him out again.

'_I don't really want to go out again today... I'm sure Myranda is waiting for me to reappear so we can "catch up",'_ he thought with a snort. _'She's only two or three years older than me. Still, isn't twelve or whatever too young to start throwing yourself at guys?'_ Ed shook his head. He would never understand girls. Winry was completely different to Myranda and just as confusing...

Ed shook his head and sighed. He was sure males the world over had the same problem and had been trying, unsuccessfully, to figure girls out since the dawn of time. If one had ever succeeded then they had kept it secret. Or been mauled to death by a horde of angry females before they had the chance to tell someone...

* * *

><p>Ed blinked sleepily, reluctant to rise from his bed. He heard his mother call out his name again and he groaned in response, letting her know he was now, however much he wished otherwise, awake. Ed rolled over onto his back and raised his tailfin, eyeing it dispassionately.<p>

In the world of merfolk, as with humans, bright colours got you noticed. Bright colours were simply a much bigger deal underwater. If you were a brightly coloured fish you were either just very pretty or poisonous or both in some cases. If you were a merperson then bright colours signified beauty, whether skin deep or genetically. If one parent had dull colours and one was bright, then any offspring would be half and half or lean more towards the brighter parent's traits. If both parents were dull then it was incredibly rare for their offspring to possess any traits attributed to those with brighter colours. If both parents were bright then any children they bore would have dazzling colours and patterns and striking features.

There were times when Ed hated his vivid colours and bold patterns. They made him stick out like a sore thumb and were the reason a lot of girls made passes at him. The thought of girls suddenly made Ed remember the ribbon.

'_Geez, I hope I can find a rock or shell just far enough away from the house so Mum can't see me. The less chance there is of me running into that crazy Myranda and her pilot fish the better,'_ he thought as he lazily stretched his arms over his head.

"Come on Ed, no breakfast until you spar with me," Izumi yelled teasingly.

"What!" Ed yelped in outrage. He shot up from his bed with his hands balled into fists. The golden-eyed boy wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to have a normal mother. He was sure no other merkid was put through the everyday trials Izumi forced him to endure.

He grumbled out what sounded suspiciously like a curse, but headed outside to meet his mother in a rocky clearing surrounded by hedges of seaweed and fronds that served as their backyard, rubbing the last traces of sleep from his eyes. She was floating in the middle of the yard and he came to a stop in front of her.

Izumi smirked at her sulky child. "Ready?"

Ed sighed and got into a fight stance, raising both arms to cover his chest and curling his tail under him slightly with his tailfin pointing up. He flexed his armfins before laying them flat and nodding, indicating that he was ready.

Izumi moved fast, bringing her left arm around as she dove low, intending to cut Ed's tail. He dodged backwards and her spines went slicing past, missing him by a hair. Using the momentum of the swing, Izumi twisted her body around to smack Ed with her tail.

Ed saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. He spread his armfins and hastily pushed them up, forcing his upper body to bend down, then laid the spines flat again, just in time to catch the edge of the blow. Izumi had flattened her dorsal spines for maximum speed and they screeched as they grated against Ed's before the strength of her swing knocked him to one side.

Knowing that she would take advantage of him being off balance, Ed swiftly swung his own tail in an arc to prevent her from getting closer. She parried the blow with the spines on her arm, much like Ed did, though his hasty swing had nowhere near the same amount of power behind it and she held her ground easily.

Thinking quick, Ed angled his body down as his tail reached the highest part of its arc and tried for a wicked slash across Izumi's brown, white and green-striped tail.

She quickly thrust backwards and Ed hit nothing but water. "Enough. You're finally improvising," she said with a nod. "Just watch out that any improvised moves you pull off aren't reckless and leave enough holes in your defence for a blind man to exploit. Breakfast?"

Ed nodded enthusiastically. "Yes please!"

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><p><strong>AN:** I hope you enjoyed it. This chapter's more filler than anything, but a story can't be all whizz-flash-bang. Slow is just as good sometimes. Let me know what you think, okay?

Do you know how fun it is to come up with undersea versions of saying and terms? It's awesome! Also, if you don't know what pilot fish are, go look them up on Wikipedia. You'd be surprised.

**No translations this chapter, but here's some pictures! (I forgot last chapter...) Just take out all the spaces:**

ht tp :/ / fantomodrako. deviantart. com/ art /I-Salute-Thee-277548321

ht tp :/ / fantomodrako. deviantart. com/ art /Beyond-the-Sea-Ch-3-Scene-283195645

ht tp :/ / fantomodrako. deviantart. com/ art /Ashli-Myranda-and-Chloe-BtS-286841706

**Also I have a forum now**. It's a little community (there's only four of us at the moment) where you can share art – fanart or otherwise, fanfics and even poems and original stories! It's basically like here where you can give and receive tips, help and feedback. I aim to help people discover their creativity and to improve. It's free to join and I'd love to have more people.** Go here if you're interested:** ht tp :/ / fantomodrako. proboards. com/


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